City shuts down massage parlor and barbershop as part of crackdown

A massage parlor with a history of prostitution arrests, and yet another barbershop, were shut down yesterday as part of Jersey City's ongoing crackdown on quality of life issues, which is being executed along with the state Attorney General's Office, officials said.

Based on complaints from residents, inspectors of the Mayor's Task Force descended on Future Cut'z Unisex Salon on Monticello Avenue at Emory Street, and the massage parlor on Kennedy Boulevard and Sip Avenue, and shut both down, said Mark Redfield, Task Force chairman.

"The massage parlor, this was a source of numerous complaints from the neighborhood, and there were countless 911 calls in the last 90 days," said Redfield.

Last month, 25 barbershops were inspected and 14 were closed by the Task Force, which is made up of fire, building, housing, zoning and health inspectors who respond with police and officials from the Attorney General's Office, Public Service Electric & Gas and United Water, Redfield said.

The proprietor, Dondi Jenkins, was also charged with having outstanding parking tickets and PSE&G shut off the electricity because he was behind on his bill, Redfield said.

At the massage parlor, inspectors issued more than 40 housing and fire code violations, cited the business for running an illegal spa, and tacked on more summonses when an illegal rooming house was found on the second floor, Boor said.

Citations were issued to the massage parlor manager, Yufea Huang, and the building owners, Nassif and Nabila Banoot, Chief Health Inspector H. James Boor said.